Easter
by Erin87
Summary: A belated fluffy little Easter fic with the Stargate families having a good old fashioned egg hunt. Sparky, Rodney/Jennifer, and Daniel/Vala.


A.N.1: Hello! This is just a fluffy little fic I wrote for Easter (it's a little bit late, I know, but hey!). It features the second generation of Stargate. If you read my fic Untamable, then you've already met John and Elizabeth's children Connor and Emily. Now you'll be introduced to Rodney and Jennifer and Daniel and Vala's kids. So anyway, enjoy!"

* * *

"Look, I found another one!" Emily Sheppard knelt down to the ground, her shining black curls falling around her face as she retrieved her find from its nest of grass. She set her blue and green plastic basket aside and sat back on her heels, gazing at the bright yellow Easter egg she held in her hands.

"Alright, Em!" praised her father, walking over to her and kneeling down till he was at her level. He wore khakis and the sleeves of his pale blue dress shirt were rolled up to his elbows in the warm spring weather.

The five year old proudly held up the egg for inspection. "See?"

"Yeah, I do! It's a beauty," he said with a smile. "How many's that now?"

Emily leaned over and peered into her basket, silently mouthing the numbers as she counted the eggs resting among the mounds of pink plastic grass. "Twelve," she declared a minute later, putting the yellow egg with its fellows and looking up at her father.

He whistled in appreciation. "Wow, very impressive. What do you say we go look over by the bushes and see how everybody else is doing?"

She nodded. " 'Kay." She stood up and patted at the pouffy skirt of her mint green Easter dress to straighten it out, brushing off the light pink rosettes that ran along the sash. John smiled at his daughter's unusual carefulness with her clothes and handed her her basket before standing up himself.

On the other side of the garden there was a cry of victory from one of the boys as another egg was discovered. Emily instantly broke into a run and rushed across the green to see who it was, leaving her dad forgotten behind her. John laughed softly, putting his hands in his pockets as he sauntered after the little girl. His eyes automatically began searching for his wife as he walked, and after a minute he finally saw her, following their son Connor as the boy hunted for eggs.

John paused a moment to watch her, her salmon colored skirt gently billowing around her knees as she gracefully trailed after the energetic seven year old. Her brown curls shone with a reddish tint in the sunlight, set off against the light cream of her sweater. With the lacy white blossoms of the row of cherry trees behind her, he thought he'd hardly ever seen a more perfect picture.

Almost as if she'd sensed his gaze on her, Elizabeth stopped walking and looked up, meeting his eyes and raising an eyebrow, a warm smile spreading across her face. John smiled in return, and they stood looking at each other in silent communication until Elizabeth was distracted by a small voice.

"Mommy, come on!" commanded Connor gleefully, taking his mother's hand. She laughed and allowed herself to be led away, sharing an amused glance with her husband. John smiled again and watched until they disappeared behind a stand of tall bushes before continuing after Emily.

*O*

"Honey, you know that's cheating, right?" asked Jennifer with a smile, looking very spring-y in a white dress covered with a pattern of large yellow flowers. Rodney straightened up from where he had been kneeling and piling stray grass on top of an orange egg.

"No it isn't. I seem to recall that in an Easter egg hunt the eggs are supposed to be hidden well."

"Well that's true." Jennifer slid her arm through his and they began ambling slowly towards the picnic table where everyone was gathered. "But not if you're only hiding it so no one else but you and Rachel can find it. You're not trying to start another 'whose kid can find the most?' contest with John are you?"

They reached the picnic table. "I have no idea what you're talking about," Rodney said innocently, pretending to look offended. He freed his arm from hers, winked, and grabbed a handful of spring M&Ms from the blue plastic bowl sitting on the corner of the table, eating them as he walked away in search of his daughter.

"Would I be right in my guess that this is going to be just like last year's competition?"

Jennifer turned to look at Vala Jackson, who had come to stand next to her. "Yep," she sighed with a laugh, "I just wonder if John knows it yet."

Vala took a sip from her cup. "I still say we should simply hide a bunch of eggs and let them hunt for them themselves. That would be better than the two of them trying to fight it out through the children. Much more humane."

The other woman laughed again and turned to pour herself some of the ice cold lemonade the Sheppards had brought. "You're probably right. But Rachel's got herself a competitive streak that's just as wide as her father's. Maybe wider, and she's only five and a half. She's not going to turn down any help in winning, that's for sure, whatever his motives."

"Believe me I know how you feel. Twins, remember?" Vala raised her plastic cup of lemonade in a toast. "Well. Here's to our precocious five and six year olds."

"Especially the ones that disguise themselves as grown ups," Jennifer added with a smile as they tapped their drinks together. "Cheers."

*O*

Emily had reached the source of the celebration in seconds and found Rachel McKay and Sharon Jackson standing next to each other. They were both giggling and watching as Sharon's twin brother, the source of the yelling, crawled backwards out from underneath the bush he had been half buried in. Thomas, or Finn as he liked to be called, stood up, looking slightly disheveled and grinning broadly, a lime colored Easter egg carefully clutched in his fist.

"Got it!" he crowed. Sharon smiled at her brother and held out his basket for him.

"Good job, Finn!" she cheered, reaching over with a little hand and patting him on the shoulder, the stiff fabric of her lilac dress rustling as she moved.

Finn adjusted his glasses and beamed even more. "Thanks!" he said, taking the orange wicker handle from his sister. He turned to Emily. "Hey, how many have you found?"

"Twelve."

"Ha!" bragged Rachel, "I've found fifteen!"

A small frown of disappointment crossed Finn's face. "I've only found eleven."

Emily glared at Rachel before hanging her basket over her arm and taking Finn's hand. "That's okay. You can come look with me."

Finn brightened up instantly. "Really?"

"Yup. We'll be the best egg-finders ever!" she declared confidently. "And I haven't even looked over there yet." She pointed to a clump of flowering bushes halfway across the garden.

"Where?" asked Rachel, pointing to the exact spot. "There?"

"Yeah..." began Emily. "Hey!" But Rachel had already run past her, her powder blue dress flying out around her and the large matching bow in her dark blonde hair bouncing madly as she dashed towards the unexplored territory.

"I see one!" she called in triumph.

"No you don't!" "That's our egg!" yelled Emily and Finn simultaneously before sprinting as fast as their short legs could carry them after her, Sharon following behind just for the fun of it.

John arrived on the scene just in time to hear the children's furious battle cry and see them start to chase each other around the park. It wasn't long before the anger died out though, and they were all shrieking with laughter as they raced back and forth to collect each egg that was spotted.

"Looks like they're having fun," commented Elizabeth cheerfully as she walked up behind him. John turned his head to look at her.

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "They're having a blast. Where's...?" He looked around and found Connor busily egg hunting along the avenue of shrubbery behind him. The boy was constantly on the move, glancing under bushes and pushing aside branches in the hope of glimpsing the flash of bright color that would signal another find.

"Hey, kiddo, how you doing?" John questioned. Connor didn't say anything, being in the process of reaching for something concealed behind some leaves. He pulled out a cherry red egg and added it to his basket, then looked up at him with a grin that Elizabeth often swore looked just like his.

"Good! See, look at 'em all! That makes seventeen now!"

John once again exclaimed over his children's amazing Easter hunting skills, then let a rather preoccupied Connor go back to work. Elizabeth moved closer, slipping her hand in his and gently pulling him along with her as she began to stroll lazily behind their son. "If he's found seventeen already, then the others must be doing about the same. Just how many of these things did you guys hide?"

He thought a moment. "Let's see... I hid twenty, Rodney hid twenty-seven, and Daniel hid... thirty? Yeah, thirty. Seventy-seven in all."

She nodded in acknowledgement, then another idea seemed to pop into her head. "Speaking of Daniel." She stood on her tiptoes and craned her neck as she looked around them. "Where is he anyway? I haven't seen him for a while now."

John frowned and scanned the garden for the archeologist, but he was nowhere to be found. "Hmm. That's funny. I don't..."

"Alright everybody! Food time!"

Elizabeth twisted to glance over her shoulder. "Well that answers that," she said in amusement. The very man in question was coming from the direction of the parking lot, a large cardboard box in his arms, presumably filled with their lunch.

"Gotta love that timing," said John. "Well, you heard the man, let's go. Hey Connor! Time to eat buddy."

"Just a minute!" He began to scramble to search under the rest of the plants in the row, finding at least one more egg in the process.

"Our boy is focused, I'll give him that." He caught Elizabeth's eyes and smiled teasingly. "He must get that from you." They slowly wheeled around and headed for the picnic tables. Passing the green, John whistled loudly and called all the kids to cease their egg hunting and come eat, doing a head count as they scooted by. All but one were accounted for and he opened his mouth to say something...

"There she is," said Elizabeth, pointing. At first he didn't see anything but then he noticed the blue hair bow sticking out over the top of a gardenia bush. He nodded and they walked over.

"Rachel, sweetheart, time to..." Elizabeth began as they rounded the bush. "Rodney, what are you doing down there?" The scientist was on his knees, pointing out a curiously rounded, egg shaped lump of grass to his daughter.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," he said nervously. "I was just, um... showing Rachel this bush. You know, don't get much experience with Earth plants back home, so..."

Rachel brushed aside the loose grass on top of the lump and uncovered a tangerine colored egg. "Thanks, Daddy," she said sweetly, putting the egg in her rather full basket and giving him a quick peck on the cheek before skipping away to join the others.

"Rodney that's called cheating," said John, his customary smirk on his face as he crossed his arms and looked down at him. "You're not supposed to tell the kids where the eggs are."

Elizabeth looked back and forth between the pair of them. "I thought you said you two weren't going to do this again."

"I haven't been," John answered honestly, clearly delighting in the fact that his friend had been caught. "Guess he forgot."

She rolled her eyes with a resigned smile. "I'll be helping with the food," she said, leaving the two of them to snipe at each other in peace.

Rodney stood up, not paying any attention to her departure, and brushed off the knees of his pants, grinning. "I'm still going to win."

"I don't think so, McKay. And I haven't had to help my kids find a single egg. You just need to accept it. Now come, eat lunch, have a glass of lemonade..."

"Shut up, John."

*O*

"You know I still don't understand how they get the chocolate in these eggshells without breaking them completely." Vala propped her elbows on the table top and examined the egg in her hands, half the colored shell peeled away revealing the solid chocolate center. Lunch was over and the adults were sitting around, eating candy and talking while the children played.

"Just one of life's many mysteries," said John.

"Known only to God and German confectioners," finished Daniel, getting a laugh from everyone.

As the laughter died down, Jennifer sighed contentedly. "This is nice, all of us getting together like this. Doing something normal."

"Yeah. I wish Sam and Jack could have been here with Aaron though," said Daniel, "but I think they went to her brother's this year."

"Well that's good..." began Elizabeth, trailing off when Emily rushed over and pulled on John's sleeve, begging him to come play with her.

The girl wrapped her arms around one of her father's and looked up at him with her most adorable pleading expression. "Pleeease, Daddy?"

John chuckled and gave in, having no defense against such a powerful weapon. "Okay! Go on, I'll be there in a minute. Little charmer." Emily glowed and scampered away.

"She must get that from you," grinned Elizabeth, echoing his earlier teasing.

He got up and circled to her side of the table. "No, not just from me," he said, smiling as he leaned over her shoulder and gave her a kiss. Walking away he paused a foot from the table and turned around. "Let's go Rodney," he ordered. "We have to count eggs- see if they found them all."

"Right. Coming." Rodney sighed and left his seat next to his wife. The two men drifted towards the picnic blanket where all the baskets had been left, John munching on some variety of candy.

"Hey, what kind of chocolate is that?" queried Rodney, squinting at the sweet in his hand. "Are those bunny ears? I saw you eat your rabbit already, where'd you get those?"

*O*

"Elizabeth, would you mind terribly handing me some of those overly sweet marshmallow baby chickens?" requested Vala. "What are they called? Cheeps?"

"Close enough," she chuckled, leaning over the table and reaching into the purple wicker hamper that held all the candy. She found the Peeps and passed them to Vala, then decided that she wanted to eat her chocolate bunny, being the only one who hadn't done so. The rabbit was easy to find and she began peeling off the foil, not looking at what she was doing as she listened to the conversation. It was only when she was about to take a bite that she noticed it. The bunny's ears were gone.

"John!" Halfway across the garden he froze and looked back, the brazen thief actually in the process of eating the ears that very moment.

"Go ahead, Elizabeth," prompted Vala. "I understand stealing chocolate bunny ears is a very serious offense in Earth culture."

"We promise we won't say anything if you kill him," joked Daniel.

Jennifer joined in. "Yeah, go get revenge." She cupped her hand around her mouth and raised her voice for John's benefit. "For the next half hour I'm not a doctor!"

Elizabeth got up from the table, a determined gleam in her eyes. Rodney grinned. "Nice knowing you, Sheppard." John just beamed, taking the last bite of milk chocolate and then nearly choking on it when he burst out laughing as his wife came after him.

He wheeled around and sprinted away. "Happy Easter, Elizabeth!"

She laughed as she chased him. "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

* * *

A.N.2: Well, hope you liked it! Thanks for reading and please please review!


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